And I SO Saw It Coming
by JFVM
Summary: Alice has been pretty sure Bella would be coming to visit the Cullen home for a while now. Then she finally turns up one day, and Alice gets to see if she's really the girl for Edward. Cullen Oneshot Challenge Honorable Mention!


"She's coming!" I sing, throwing Jasper's door open. "Finally. Finally!"

"Alice..." He's smiling now. He stands-and the top of my head barely reaches his shoulder. As per usual. "What's happening? _Who's_ coming?"

"Bella," I tell him, taking his hand. "Edward's...I guess you'd call it 'girlfriend' but I think it's more serious than that. At least," I shrug, "it's going to be."

It still drives Rosalie mad when I do this-give tantalizing hints of the future without giving away _too_ much-and sometimes I can annoy other members of my family with it, but never Jasper. He's too used to me. In tune with my every move and word. However, even he can't see into the future. So for the last week, I've been alone in my vision of Bella stepping hesitantly through the door, Edward leading her. I don't know who looks the most nervous in that scene, him or her.

You'd think that it might be her, the human walking into the houseful of vampires, but Edward tells me that she's different. I've only met her once...technically...but she did seem different. I don't mean to overuse the word. But there's something about the fact that she doesn't shy away from us, and it's very, very nice to have that happen for once. It's like being It in a continual game-everyone's afraid that you might tag them.

"When are they coming?" Jasper asks, leading me out into the hallway again.

"Soon. Within the hour," I say. "We should tell the others, shouldn't we?"

"I'll tell Rose and Emmett," he says, and goes down a different hallway and through a door.

I run down the stairs, my feet barely making any noise, barely even touching the ground. I find Carlisle and Esme in the main room, both reading.

I waste no time in telling them my news. Esme looks surprised, then smiles. "That's wonderful."

Carlisle nods, but looks a little uncertain. "Won't she be afraid? Was this her idea, or Edward's, Alice?"

I remember that vision. "Well...Edward's. But"-I giggled-"Bella wasn't frightened so much of what we were. More that we wouldn't like her."

Carlisle looks startled. "Oh."

Jasper comes down the stairs, a small frown in place. I feel a small wave of displeasure wash over me, leftovers from his own feelings that he forgot to control. "What is it?" I ask.

"Rosalie isn't too happy right now," he says, sighing. "She refuses to meet Bella. She ran out the back door; Emmett followed. I think it may be just the four of us greeting Bella unless he can convince Rose to come back."

We're all silent, all trying, I'm sure, to think of a quick way to get Rosalie back in the house. I love my sister, but she can be quite the monarch sometimes.

And then I get another vision, rocketing towards me, and this one is due to happen in a few short minutes. "They're coming. Almost here," I say, and dash back up the stairs, to the window in my room where I can see the road leading to our home.

After a few long moments of my breath fogging the window, an old, rusty red pickup truck pulls into our driveway. Jasper comes up behind me as my bronze-haired brother gets out of the truck, goes around the front of it, and opens the door for Bella.

I watch them walk to the front porch of our house, hand in hand. Then I leave the window and go to stand, poised, at the top of the stairs, waiting for an appropriate entrance moment.

I hear the front door open, and shut again. Then:

"Carlisle, Esme, this is Bella," says Edward.

"You're very welcome, Bella," Carlisle says, and already he sounds relieved. The anticipation of this kind of visit is bound to wear hard on anyone.

Then Bella says, "It's nice to see you again, Dr. Cullen."

Deferentially, he says, "Please, call me Carlisle."

"Carlisle," she repeats, and I can hear the smile in her voice.

I almost run down then. I'm excited, tense.

Esme's voice floats up from the main room. "It's very nice to know you."

Bella again: "Thank you. I'm glad to meet you, too."

Then Edward speaks, and it's a cue for me at last. "Where are Alice and Jasper?"

I bound down the stairs, taking them at least three at a time. "Hey, Edward!" I call. Carlisle and Esme don't seem overly pleased by my enthusiasm, but for the moment I ignore them. "Hi, Bella!" I continue, and kiss her cheek.

Carlisle frowns deeply at me, but I shrug it off.

"You do smell nice," I tell Bella, inhaling, "I never noticed before." I intend it as a compliment, but she blushes. Oops.

We stand there for a minute, Carlisle and Esme radiating disapproval at my actions. Then Jasper comes down the stairs, and says, "Hello, Bella."

She returns the greeting, and then looks around. "It's nice to meet you all-you have a very beautiful home," she says.

"Thank you," Esme says, stepping into her role as the matron. "We're so glad that you came."

We fall into a comfortable silence. I see Bella look around at us, and a frown creases her forehead. She knows that someone is missing.

As if trying to distract herself, she takes a few steps toward the grand piano, and looks it over with a thoughtful expression.

"Do you play?" Esme asks her.

Bella shakes her head, smiling a little ruefully. "Not at all. But it's so beautiful." She strokes the side of it. "Is it yours?"

Now, why didn't I see that Edward didn't tell her? It was probably to small a vision to float to the top, like the important ones did.

Esme laughs and says that no, it's not. "Edward didn't tell you he was musical?"

"No. I should have known, I guess," she says.

Esme raises her eyebrows.

And Bella delivers a lovely nugget of Edward teasing material: "Edward can do everything, right?"

Jasper bites his lip, barely containing his laughter. Esme gives Edward the same look of disapproval that she shot at me a few minutes ago. "I hope you haven't been showing off," she tells him sternly. "It's rude."

Edward laughs. "Just a bit."

I think that's when it really hits all of us: Edward really loves Bella. Never has he been this light or carefree since I came to live with my family. From Carlisle's stories, I get the idea that he was fairly grim before I became a Cullen, as well.

Bella gives Edward a mushy kind of a look, and says, "He's been too modest, actually."

It's official. They are entirely head-over-heels for each other. It's wonderful.

A little while later, Jasper, Carlisle, Esme and I sit in the kitchen-huge, spotless, unused, but it came with the house-listening to Edward play piano, and listening to them talk. Eventually Carlisle goes up to his study, but the rest of us sit there.

It's really happened.

Edward is in love.


End file.
